Night Ritual
by Rabid Lola
Summary: Check in on me, every now and then...A short brother-sister moment between Juubei and Sakura.


  
  
**_Night Ritual _**

_A Get Backers Fanfic by Rabid Lola _

**A/N:** I'm not sure where this came from…I think it's coz I just watched the rerun of episode…um, the "Ginji vs. Makubex" and the one before it. And I saw the Kakei siblings and their interactions. So…maybe that's why. No specific time of happening, definitely after the IL retrieval, and maybe even after the last arc of the anime. Oddly, it's not my usual style…I'm not that good in first person things unless I really am the person. Oh well. :) 

**…---…**

I walk down the halls of MakubeX's home. Funny…halls—home. Normally if you want something homey, the word "hall" wouldn't be in it…Hall is something large, lofty, impersonal. Like this one, metallic walls and checkered tile floor, lit by pale lights. 

Maybe I should get MakubeX to decorate this place with his virtual reality. Then maybe we can relax, and feel at home, here in Mugenjou. 

Weariness sweeps over me in a wave. Today was tiring, as usual. Watching and helping my young charge normally is. But the tiredness is not so bad, now…before tension would be in it, frustration, edginess…if I could relax enough to feel tired at all. That was before, when MakubeX was troubled, when everything was wrong. Now Mugenjou's still an unstable place, but MakubeX is happy now, and things are easier to get through. 

For a moment, I stop by the door next to mine…I haven't done this in a long time, and he'll probably tease me for doing so now…but who cares? I feel like being big sister tonight, and no one, not even a six-foot needle-wielding doctor-samurai can stop me. Especially if he's asleep. 

Softly, noiselessly, I open Juubei's door and peek in. Dim light filters in from the hall, and I can see him in his bed, face turned to me, fast asleep. The blanket's pulled up, waist high, and he's wearing the usual black t-shirt and shorts that he prefers to sleep in. He likes it, I don't know why. A small sigh of exasperation escapes my lips…his day shirt is carelessly dumped beside the bed, his pants on the other side of the room, his shades—is that what he calls them?—beside him as he sleeps. And numerous other things are out of place, all over. My little brother will never change. And being blind is no excuse…even when he had sight, he always had a messy room. 

I open the door wider and step inside, beginning to tidy up. A stray thought slips inside my head…smiling, I recall one of the many times I'd adamantly told him that I would not clean his room, since he was old enough to do it by himself. That started when I was twelve…a bossy older sister, he'd always complain. Well, I seem to have resigned myself to it, in the past ten or so years. I should make him fix his room regularly again. 

I pause in folding his clothes as he mumbles something in his sleep…it sounds like "Haruki no sensei!" Not that I know what that's supposed to mean. That's another thing that hasn't change...Juubei talks in his sleep a lot. Rarely does it make sense. Sometimes I can blackmail him with what he's said, though. 

We're only two years apart…and we've always been close. It was only the two of us, after all. And Kazuki. He sort of got adopted into our family, since he was always with Juubei. I remember, though, the first time I saw Kazuki, I thought Juubei had started courting early, since he was bringing home pretty young girls. But finding out Kazuki's gender didn't unsettle me as it normally did others. I'm a Kakei, after all, I know the Fuuchoins. Kazuki's older brother was supposed to be my charge…yes, he had an older brother, a year or so older then me. He died in the fire. 

But Juubei and my closeness was not the friend-buddy type. It was really younger brother, older sister. All those years—half my life, since by the other half we were in Mugenjou already—I had to run after him, all the time…make sure he took his training, make sure he wasn't gallivanting off and wasting time, make sure he was dressed properly when we went out, make sure he slept well at night… 

My little brother's prone to nightmares, see. His imagination is extremely vivid; I think that helps him now that he's blind. I'd always sleep hours later than him, and my mother would always tell me, "Check on Juubei before you go to bed." Check on Juubei…sometimes, his head would come around my shoji as I worked with cloth, and he'd say, "Don't forget to check in on me every now and then." And I'd roll my eyes and tell him, Yes, now go to sleep. He's really, really persistent. 

It became second nature to me, checking in on him as he slept. If he wasn't asleep, sometimes I'd sit by him and make sure he did. When he turned ten, I stopped staying until he slept…but he still wanted me to check in on him, before I went to sleep. 

When we moved...or fled, to Mugenjou, I didn't check on him as much…not because I didn't want to, but because he wasn't there for me to watch over. He'd be out with his gang, patrolling the streets. And my nights were no longer spent in making sure he slept well…they were spent waiting up, and hoping he'd come home alive. He was all I had left. He and Kazuki. Sometimes one would be injured, sometimes the other, sometimes both. And I'd wait until any hour of the night, to make sure they were okay. 

But my little brother was growing up, and even if we were still close, at the same time he grew distant. He was with his friends more and more, and gradually it became that there were periods when I wouldn't see him for days. Or weeks. 

I think I missed having a little brother. That's why I took on MakubeX. 

I lay the folded clothes on a chair beside his bed; already I'd cleaned the rest of the room. As I pick up his shades, his hand grabs my wrist and I gasp, then grin. A smile crosses his face and he turns it up to me, eyes still closed. "Checking in on me, oneechan?" he says softly, as he releases my hand. 

I ruffle his hair, and laugh as he growls, swiping at me and sitting up in bed. "Hai, because little Juubei-chan might get nightmares tonight," I tease him, laying his eyewear on top of his clothes. 

"Heh. Don't call me that." 

"Why? At least I don't do it in public." 

"True," he concedes, and cocks his head. "I wasn't awake when you came in, but I heard you moving around a little. What were you doing?" 

I snort, sitting beside him. "In case you didn't notice, dear ototo, your room is a pigsty…was, until I intervened." 

He groans. "Ouch. Your words were always sharper than my needles." He grins. "Bossy." 

"Shut up," I shoot back, smiling. I missed this, verbal combat with my brother. We are quiet people, at best, but not when we want to banter. 

He grins again, then winces and touches his closed eyes. "Ow…" 

"It still hurts?" I watch worriedly as he nods, then puts his hands down. "A little," he replies, smile gone. 

I sigh, and say softly, "You shouldn't have done it to yourself, you know." 

"I had to," he says flatly. "Punishment." 

A sad smile crosses my face, and I ruffle his hair again before touching his shoulder. "I won't argue with you right now." 

"Because you'll lose," he immediately answers. 

I stick out my tongue, even though he can't see. "No, it's because I don't pick on the inadequately armed." He lets out a "Hah!" and I grin. "Can I leave you now?" 

"Aa," he replies. A small smile crosses his face. "I'll sleep well tonight." 

"Hm." I begin to get up, when he gives me an awkward, one-armed hug, and surprisingly, a peck on the cheek. When we were young, we were rarely openly affectionate, if affectionate at all. More like, always teasingly at odds. Juubei grins sheepishly and says, "Thanks for checking in on me, oneechan." 

I look at this man, tall and quiet and strong, and I don't see a man at all…instead I see many things, many images, glimpses of what he used to be….a round-faced boy, a gangly teenager, a small face peering out from beneath his sheets. My little brother, who needs me as much as I need him. I smile as I stand up, kissing him on the head softly. "Good night, little brother," I say, with no teasing lilt to my voice. And instead of an indignant retort, he smiles. 

"Good night, oneechan. Sleep well." He lies down again, and in minutes, he's asleep. I grin at my brother's sleeping form, and pull the covers higher up…it feels like it will get colder tonight. Quietly, I walk out of his room, and close the door. 

**…--EnD--…**

**A/N 2:** My brother used to make me do this...check on him before he sleeps, hehe. Either me or my parents, that is. He used to ask me to play the guitar until he sleeps, too. :) 

By the way, thank you to elle (and lady kai...who pointed it out in my other fic but I forgot ;) that oniichan means big brother, not little brother. "Ototo" is little brother. 

For those of you who didn't get the "Haruki no sensei", listen to track no. 11-13 of the second OST of GB. Kazuki's CREEPY... 0.o Hope ya liked this.


End file.
